withholding visitation- what can he do?
The mother is withholding visitation and phone calls from my fiance's 2 yr old daughter. She wants him to pay her a portion of a bill and he is not obligated to. Since he will not, she is not allowing contact. And she has said she is taking it to court. He pays csupport- on time all the time. He covers medical insurance and pays portion of daycare. This started when the state (minnesota) govt shut down, causing daycare assistance to close for a moment. She asked him to pay her money for that- and he did not. She got mad then. Since the daycare is back on, now she is asking for clinic bill money. His support papers do not declare that he has to pay a portion of bills. What can he do? He has saved the text msgs from her when he asked to talk or see his kid, and her saying not unless he pays up. I am guessing she will also ask the judge to order him to pay court fee's if she takes him. EVIL. She dont care if she is hurting her kid in the process. Is there laws to protect him of this behavior? What steps should he be taking? The funny thing is she is going to hurt herself if she takes to court. Her income has doubled since they went to court last time, and his has not. If she wants it modified, they will see her income and think twice. MN looks at both parents income.
Thank you Foxie! Appreciate
Thank you Foxie!
Appreciate the feedback, esp local feedback.
some of these sites are
some of these sites are saying, sometimes withholding visitation/contact can reverse custody arrangements. Im assuming thats drastic situation, but he did have a rlshp with his daughter, and she is the only one the mother is hurting right now. SELFISH!
He needs to go pick up his
He needs to go pick up his kid with the court order at the appropriate time , if she refuses to hand her over he needs to call the cops - they will not force her to hand the child over (but they will pressure her too). If she still refuses, he gets a copy of the report & files for contempt.
Here is where that gets iffy-
Here is where that gets iffy- His order states "Open and liberal parenting time. Petitioner (him) is allowed to see the minor child whenever his work schedule will accommodate. (he works out of town on occasion) So would the police help him enforce if there is nothing specific as of times and such? He isnt one to involve the police in anything, so i am not even sure he would do this, but may be his only solution.
That kind of order is worth
That kind of order is worth less then the paper it's printed on. He needs to file for a modification for specific parenting times. You can do this pro se if you have to, but I would at least consult an attorney if you are unfamiliar with the court systems. Good Luck.